Specification at a glance

Assessment overview

* Indicates inclusion of synoptic assessment.

Students must complete all components (01, 02 and 03/04) to be awarded the OCR A Level in Media Studies.

Students who are retaking the qualification may carry forward their result for the non-exam assessment component.

Students who wish to retake the non-exam assessment component must undertake the brief set for the year of assessment.

Content overview

Students study nine media forms and associated set products using a theoretical framework covering media language, media representations, media industries and media audiences. They also consider the social, cultural, economic, political and historical contexts of media products.

Component 01: Media messages

Students study news and online, social and participatory media in depth and learn about how media language is used to construct representations and meaning in a variety of set media products.

There are two sections:

• In section A: News and online media, students carry out two linked in-depth studies that focus on contemporary news in the UK, requiring students to explore how and why newspapers and their online counterparts are evolving as media products and the relationship between both online and offline news.
• In section B: Media language and representation, students focus on media language and representation and consider how meanings are constructed across different media forms. This covers advertising and marketing, magazines and music videos.

Component 02: Evolving media

Students consider how media industries are evolving and using technology to reach, target and address audiences through a variety of set media products. Students also consider the media language, representations and messages and values communicated by long-form television drama and how these dramas are produced and consumed globally.

There are two sections:

• In section A: Media industries and audiences, students will explore media industries through film, video games and radio and audiences through video games and radio.
• In section B: Long-form television drama, students carry out an in-depth study focusing on contemporary long form television dramas, one English language and one European (non-English language).

Component 03/04: Creating media

Students create a cross-media product for an intended audience in response to a set brief. This gives them the opportunity to work independently and develop expertise built from their study in components 01 and 02.

Assessment overview

* Indicates inclusion of synoptic assessment.

Students must complete both components (01 and 02/03) to be awarded the OCR AS Level in Media Studies.

Students who are retaking the qualification may carry forward their result for the non-exam assessment component.

Students who wish to re-take the non-exam assessment component must undertake the brief set for the year of assessment.

Content overview

Students study nine media forms and associated set products using a theoretical framework covering media language, media representations, media industries and media audiences. They also consider the social, cultural, economic, political and historical contexts of media products.

Component 01: Media today

Students develop their knowledge and understanding of the media theoretical framework and the different contexts surrounding contemporary media products and carry out an in-depth study of long form television drama. Two further in-depth studies allow them to consider the relationship between online and offline news products.

There are three sections:

• In section A: The media theoretical framework, students are introduced to the elements of the media theoretical framework. They consider how media products are constructed across different media forms to reach different audiences, and how media language is used to create meaning. They study the following media forms:
  • Film
  • Advertising and marketing
  • Radio
  • Magazines
  • Video games
  • Music video
• In section B: Long-form television drama, students carry out an in-depth study exploring television as a media form, drawing together different elements of the media theoretical framework and media contexts.
• In section C: News and online, social and participatory media, students carry out two comparative in-depth studies to explore how and why newspapers and their online counterparts are evolving as media products.

Component 02/03: Creating media

Students create a media product for an intended audience in response to a set brief. This gives them the opportunity to work independently and demonstrate their understanding of the theoretical framework.